PLDT unit prepares to bid for IBC 13

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), through Mediaquest Holdings Inc., will bid for state-owned Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp., which operates TV Channel 13, once the terms of reference (ToR) of the sale are finalized, according to a top company official.

At the sidelines of Metro Pacific Corp.’s annual shareholders meeting yesterday, PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan said Mediaquest will be used as the telecommunications firm’s corporate vehicle in bidding for IBC-13. Mediaquest is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund.

"If the ToR is ready, we’ll make a bid for IBC-13. We cannot use PLDT as corporate vehicle because it has foreign ownership," Pangilinan said.

IBC-13 , a leading broadcast station during the Marcos era, has become attractive to investors after settling P200 million worth of debts.

It owns a 41,000-square meter lot in Broadcast City, Quezon City, land and buildings in the provinces, five provincial television stations and nine radio stations.

Through Mediaquest, PLDT almost acquired a controlling stake in GMA Network Inc., currently the country’s leading broadcast network, in 2001 but the sale did not push through due to differences in the valuation of shares.

Pangilinan has been vocal in his desire to include a TV network under PLDT. With landlines, mobile phones, Internet, various IT solutions, a cable firm, a music channel and a radio network now all within the PLDT group, a TV station would fill in the missing link.

Mediaquest owns radio network Nation Broadcasting Corp., MTV Philippines, and Philippine Home Cable Holdings Inc., the second largest cable operator in the country.

On the other hand, IBC-13 was one of several companies sequestered by the Aquino government after the People Power revolt in 1986 for alleged ill-gotten wealth. It belonged to one of Marcos’ cronies, tycoon Roberto Benedicto, who also owned RPN-9, Banahaw Broadcasting Corp. (Channel 2) and the defunct Philippine Daily Express newspaper.

Past administrations have tried to privatize IBC-13, pressured by allegations that some government appointees had used funds of the company for personal gains.

Earlier reports said IBC-13 was nearly sold in 1996, when the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), the government agency tasked to run after ill-gotten wealth during the Marcos regime, put it on the auction block for a P2-billion floor price.

But the network’s former-general manager, Jose Jalandoon, however, went to court claiming 20 percent of the shares.

The Cabinet-level Privatization Council hopes to raise at least P5 billion from the sale of state-owned media stations IBC-13 and RPN-9, which owns seven TV stations and 14 radio stations.

The Arroyo government wants to dispose of the two TV stations this year to raise much needed funds to further cut its fiscal debt.

CLSA Exchange Capital Inc. was tapped as financial advisor for the sale.

PLDT’s healthy financial position would allow it to pursue capital-intensive acquisitions such as its own TV station. Last year, PLDT reported a 22-percent growth in net profit to P34.1 billion from P28 billion in 2004, boosted by foreign exchange gains.